Within a month of the launch of Sputnik, the first satellite, Soviets launched a second satellite, Sputnik 2. This satellite had a dog named Laika onboard to test the effects of space on a living organism. At the time, Soviets reported that they euthanized Laika after days in orbit before she ran out of oxygen. However, more recent reports revealed that the dog died within a few hours of the launch from overheating.

Citation Information

“Laika, the Sputnik dog,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/b27700816694c62a099050865d56222e.

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